Why do you think that the United States is so divided politically to the point where some would commit violence against the other party? Please note that while race can explain part of this phenomenon, Donald Trump did increase his support among non-white voters from 2016 to 2020.

Here is the discussion question:

Question:

Since the U.S. Civil War, we are living in arguably the most divided, polarized time in American history. Democrats are becoming increasing liberal while Republicans are becoming increasingly conservative, both within the voting population and within Congress. Increasingly members of both parties have very little in common (policy-wise) with the opposition party and have little to no desire to seek compromise or work with the other party. In fact, working with the other party can be electorally or even personally dangerous. Ten Republicans voted to impeach Donald Trump earlier this year and they have received death threats for their votes. All ten will likely face primary challenges from their own party when they run for reelection in 2022. Democrats who were in any way sympathetic to the Trump administration also met harsh (though not violent) criticism from members of their own party.
This division was not always the case. If you look at American history, you will find numerous instances of the parties working together to compromise and agree upon important legislation. In addition, the divide between the parties was not as stark, with the existence of numerous conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans. Those two groups are now gone, with states and districts featuring conservative Democrats (like in the South) now electing Republicans and areas which used to feature liberal Republicans (like in New England) now electing Democrats.
Questions to Answer:
1. Why do you think that the United States is so divided politically to the point where some would commit violence against the other party? Please note that while race can explain part of this phenomenon, Donald Trump did increase his support among non-white voters from 2016 to 2020. Ironically, every group except for white males, Trump’s strongest support group, increased their support for Trump in 2020, as explained here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54972389
2. Is there any way to decrease the division between Americans based on party and ideology? How would you go about trying to bring opposing people together if you were an elected leader? Even obvious measures like wearing masks to protect against COVID-19 have become hot-button political issues, which does not exist as an issue in most countries:
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/30/face-masks-political-ads-coronavirus-424149
and here is background on the overall development of the political divide in the United States:

Our Radicalized Republic

3. How do you interact with people who disagree with you about politics or do you not even interact with people who disagree with you? Increasingly Americans live in bubbles, or silos, where they take in information from sources that reinforce their pre-existing views (ex. conservative media sources for conservatives and liberal media sources for liberals) and don’t interact across party lines. Do you try to convince those who disagree with your political views that your position is correct or do you avoid discussing politics with them?
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-hatred-and-othering-of-political-foes-has-spiked-to-extreme-levels/

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